Reversible paint roller pan



Dec. Z2, 1959 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS yIUHHUH'I l' (s WHHUHHJ United t This invention relates to ajpaint roller pan, and has for an object to provide a pan of this type having an improved construction for applying paint to a paint-applying roller and evening it thereon.

It is another object to provide such a pan which provides the same facilities for holding paint and applying it to a roller when the pan is used either side up, and therefore is reversible.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, I have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this speciiication. It is, however, to be understood the invention is not limited to the speciiic details of construction and arrangement shown, but may embody various changes and modifications Within the scope of the invention.

In this drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the pan;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section substantially on line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial transverse section substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a view on a reduced scale showing one way the device may be used on a stepladder, for example.

The pan comprises laterally spaced upright side walls and transverse connecting end walls 11 and 12. Between these walls is a dividing wall 13 comprising opposite end portions 14 and 15 and an intermediate transversely corrugated portion 16 connecting the end portions 14 and 15. The side Walls have at each end inwardly facing hook portions 17 and 18 formed by extending the end walls 11 and 12 and the adjacent portions 19 of the side walls beyond the remaining free edges 20 of the side walls, and providing the adjacent portions of the side walls with recesses facing inwardly. The opposite end portions 14 and of the dividing wall 13 are substantially flat portions arranged at diierent heights between the opposite free edges of the side walls 10, and thus the connecting corrugated wall 16 is an inclined wall connecting these opposite end portions. The end portions 14 and 15 are spaced vertically unequal distances from the opposite upper and lower edges of the side walls, and in the position shown in Fig. 2 the end portion 14 provides with the side and end walls 10 and 11 a well 21 for holding paint, the wall 14 forming the bottom of this well. Similarly, if the pan is reversed or turned upside-down from the position of Fig. 2, the wall 15 provides with the side and end walls 10 and 12 a well 21a for holding paint, the wall 15 providing the bottom of this well.

Now, if the pan is placed on the top member 22 of a step-ladder 23, as shown in Fig. 4, with the edge of the top member 22 seated in the notches 17 or 18, the pan will be supported in position for use on the top of the stepladder, and may overhang the rear edge of the member 22. The operator applies paint to a roller 24 by runtates Patent O Price ning it lightly into the front supply of paint 25, as shown i in Fig. 2, and evensup this paint on the :roller by drawing it forwardly over the corrugated strip 16, as indicated at 24a. Then he uses the roller to apply the paint to the surface being painted. The corrugations 16 do not eX- tend to the side walls 1G, but stop about an inch short of at least one of them, and preferably short of both of them, as indicated at 26, thus providing a plain inclined surface for the paint to run off the ends of troughs of the corrugations and drain back into the well 21 or 21a, depending on which side is being used.

It will be seen that this device is the same either side up, so that if it is reversed from the position of Fig. 2 the hooks 17 can be used to support it on the stepladder, in which position the wall 15 forms the bottom of a Well 21a to receive the paint, and the wall 14 becomes the higher wall, with the corrugations 16 forming an inclined portion connecting them, the same as when the pan is in the position of Fig. 2. Thus, with this arrangement the device can be used equally well either side up and both sides can be cleaned at the same `time or in the same operation by submerging it in a large bucket of cleaning material, for example. Also, when the operator wants to paint one wall a certain color and another wall another shade or color, he can use one side for the paint for the first wall, and then can reverse the device for holding the paint for the second wall, and proceed with painting of the second wall without being delayed by the necessity of cleaning the side used for the first Wall. Or if the paint became dried or material collected on one side, which dried faster than could be used, the operator may merely reverse the pan and use the other side, without being delayed by the operation of cleaning the first side. It will be seen the corrugations 16 appear on both sides and so can be used for evening the paint from the roll when the device is used either side up.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, I claim:

A paint roller pan comprising spaced upright side and connecting end walls, a dividing Wall connecting the side and end walls between their top and bottom edges, said dividing wall comprising substantially flat opposite end portions arranged at diiferent heights in the pan and an intermediate inclined portion connecting the end portions, said inclined intermediate portion being provided with corrugations extending transversely thereof on both its upper and lower surfaces so that this inclined surface is corrugated when the pan is used either side up, and said end portions providing the bottoms of paint wells at the opposite ends of the pan on the upper and lower sides of the dividing wall for use when the pan is either side up, the opposite end walls and adjacent portions of the side walls extending beyond the remaining free edges of the side walls upwardly at one end and downwardly at the other end of the pan, and the side walls provided with backwardly facing hooks adjacent the end walls adapted to engage over the edge of a step of a step-ladder to support the pan thereon either side up.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,659,917 Drum NOV. 24, 1953 2,694,825 Touchett et al Nov. 23, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 78,531 Norway May 7, 1951 

